BERLIN — Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich survived a scare, fighting back from three goals down to beat Mainz 4-3 on Saturday for a morale-booster before facing Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern travels to Paris on Tuesday for the first leg of the Champions League semifinal and arrived in Mainz after winning the Bundesliga last weekend and reaching the German Cup final with a midweek win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Match recap
Mainz raced to a deserved 3-0 halftime lead against a heavily rotated Bayern side, with Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise starting on the bench.
The 18-year-old Bara Sapoko Ndiaye made his first start for Bayern. Mainz's goals came from Dominik Kohr, Paul Nebel and Sheraldo Becker.
Coach Vincent Kompany sent on Kane and Olise for Luis Díaz and Aleksandar Pavlović at halftime — all four are likely starters against PSG.
Nicolas Jackson pulled one back in the 53rd minute. Olise then brilliant strike found the far post in the 73rd. Musiala equalized in the 81st.
Kane scored the winner two minutes later from the rebound after Daniel Batz saved Musiala's effort.
It's only the second time Bayern has recovered from a three-goal halftime deficit to win a Bundesliga match. The previous instance was in 1976 in a 6-5 victory over Bochum.
Relegation battle
Bottom-placed Heidenheim avoided immediate relegation with a 2-0 win over relegation rival St. Pauli.
Second-to-last Wolfsburg couldn't capitalize on St. Paul's loss, drawing 0-0 at home with Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Cologne remains in danger after losing the Rhine derby at home to Leverkusen 2-1. Patrik Schick scored twice for the visitors.
Cologne is five points above the relegation playoff spot. Wolfsburg sits one point behind St. Pauli, with Heidenheim three points further back. St. Pauli hosts Wolfsburg on the final day.
The bottom two teams are relegated automatically. The team finishing third from bottom enters a two-legged playoff against the second-division third-place finisher.
Champions League race
Hoffenheim won at Hamburger SV 2-1 in the late game to move into fourth — the final Champions League qualification spot.
Stuttgart, one point behind Hoffenheim, can reclaim fourth place on Sunday when it hosts Werder Bremen.
Leverkusen's win in Cologne moved it a point behind Stuttgart.
Eintracht Frankfurt drew at Augsburg 1-1.
Ciarán Fahey, The Associated Press